Chimes

7

*Josh's POV*

~~~ Present day, Junior Year, September 24, 2020 ~~~

It's been three days since Calvin Chambers was announced missing. I have to go to church soon so I can pray for his safety. I walk down the halls of San Newark, looking at the ever-changing expressions of my classmates.

"Shit, man. You alright?" Benjamin van der Vaart, bandaged up and bruised, grumpily walks.

"I'm fine," He replies. My attention is then caught by Garrett Sumners, strolling along less happy than usual.

"Hey Garrett, you doing okay?" I approach and ask him.

"Yup. Great, as always. Why?" The usual beaming white pearls return after he hears me.

"Nothing. Just with Calvin's whole disappearance." I say.

"Right. We'll just have to hope for the best." He looks up at the sky and walks to class.

"Right," I say to myself. School didn't feel the same anymore. Calvin would usually be the one bringing the gang together whenever there was conflict or an issue within the clique. Even when he and Morty fought over Alicia's attention, he was still the one who extended the olive branch. Now, it's like the group's all broken up. I stare at his locker as if it was memorial day.

"Hey, Joshy!" Jared Liu presses my shoulders as he sneaks up behind me.

"Hey, Jared," I respond.

"Why so down?" He wraps his arm around me as we walk towards homeroom.

"You know why." I point at Calvin's locker.

"Remember what I said? It's gonna be all fine, just takes time." Jared assures me.

"Sad, but true." I agree with him.

A few hours pass, and it was time for lunch. I sit down with my usual gang. Aaron Singh, a soft-spoken Indian boy who secretly wants to be a hairstylist and got his arm broken by the Bolts. Melvin Galahad, a Cambodian-American guy who loves sports and is surprisingly good at almost every subject. Plus, we were accompanied by Ben van der Vaart, Zach McCall, Jared, Mordecai Thibault, and Isaiah Irwin. We leave a chair empty, usually occupied by Calvin.

"You still down, Josh?" Ben asks me.

"Of course. I mean one of our best friends is still missing, how could I not?" My voice gets louder as everyone in a ten-foot perimeter stares at me awkwardly.

"Uh, I meant down to go to my house after school," Ben says.

"Oh, sure. Who's coming?" My bad-mood of a tone disappears.

"Persephone and I are going out, sorry guys. Boyfriend responsibilities." He states.

"Wow. This guy." Zach complains. Jared shrugs his shoulders as if that was his so-called apology and leaves.

"Come on. It'll be fun. When was the last time all of us hung out together?" Isaiah asks us all.

"Yeah. Right, Ben?" Aaron looks at Ben. We all do. He stares at Kirah who's at the table opposite ours in the cafeteria.

"Ben?" Aaron taps his fingers on the table.

"Huh-yeah, what?" His attention returns to our after-school plans.

"Your place, after school, right?" Zach confirms.

"Yes, uh, yeah." Ben drinks his water. Suddenly, we notice that another one of us is distracted by a girl.

"Melvin. Jeez, you too?" Aaron points out. The nerd of our clique had also been taken into the grasp of Kirah Lopéz.

"Galahad. You really wanna do this?" Ben stands up from his chair in a dramatic fashion. He felt intimidated as if Kirah was his and wouldn't let anyone else look at her. Then, Melvin looks at Kirah and proceeds to stand up from the lunch table matching Ben's stance.